Showdown Sunday/Black Monday

Posted by on December 26th, 2014  •  0 Comments  • 

It’s the final weekend of the NFL football season, and ‘Showdown Sunday’ will be followed quickly by ‘Black Monday’.
 
If you are the coach of a losing franchise, you are likely in trouble.  So are your assistants, and possibly even a GM or too.
 
Here’s a list of who is on the hot-seat, and who might be on chopping block.
 
JETS…Rex Ryan had it all, strong defense, young QB with upside, and then it all changed.  His OL got old, his running backs got hurt, his quarterback fell apart.  The post-Mark Sanchez era has been a mess, and though the Jets defense can always be tough under Ryan, the offense has been inept, and his lst round draft pick QB-Geno Smith, might not be the guy.  The Jets are (17-30) over the last three years.
 
GIANTS…Tough call here on Tom Coughlin, and possibly GM-Jerry Reese.  They tried to rent a bunch of vets this year, and most everyone got hurt, but Eli Manning rallied team in final third of season.  Might (7-9) give Coughlin another year?  The emergence RB-Andre Williams and WR-Odell Beckham means there is talent now in place around the QB and they get WR-Victor Cruz back next year off IR.
 
49ers…Jim Harbaugh put together three pretty impressive seasons in San Francisco, but while winning games, he may have lost the lockeroom and the relationship with the front office.  You always felt he was high maintenance, and even a (43-19) record heading into this weekend might not save him.  Age and injury to both front lines and losing three LBs doomed the team.  That, and trying to make Colin Kaeperneck a pocket passer took away his dynamics.
 
FALCONS…Mike Smith’s era might be over as the team spirals towards a possible (6-10) finish after last year’s disappointment and the playoff ouster of the year prior.  Atlanta football does not seem headed in the right direction.  Injuries wiped out the offensive line, the defense just didn’t have much on the back seven, and Matt Ryan never had a consistent lineup around him.  Smith is (11-23) standing there pleading his case to owner Arthur Blank.
 
RAIDERS…Leadership change, culture change, roster change.  How about ownership change.  The Raiders are bottoming out despite yeoman’s work the last two years cleaning up bad contracts and cleaning out bad attitudes.  But Raleigh McKenzie’s coaching choices haven’t work, so Oakland will have its third different head coach when the season opens next fall.  John Gruden, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Holmgren?  They have a quarterback, they have linebacker, but they need lots more.  They have not had a winning season since 2002 and since they played in the Super Bowl in San Diego, they are (56-136).
 
BEARS…They have lots of money tied up with QB-Jay Cutler (24-turnovers), Brandon Marshall and other free agents, and they are headed in the wrong direction.  Coach Marc Trestman may have ambushed the league with his offense last year, but NFL teams look at video and the CFL stuff he was running a year ago, is being packaged and sent back to Canada now.  Nothing is right, not the roster, not the attitudes, not the future.
 
TITANS…It would not be the first time a coach was blown out after just 1-year on the job, but there is a real disturbing trend here with Ken Whisenhunt.  It ended badly for him in Arizona, and this is worse than anyone could imagine in Nashville (2-13).  He inherited a bad quarterback situation, and it got worse, as did the injuries.  But he is (7-24) over the last 3-years in the NFL as head coach. 
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